It’s all too common to experience severe tingling and numbness when you hit your funny bone or sleep in a strange position, but motor nerve damage is much more extreme.

Confusing the connection between the brain and spinal cord can cause problems with your central nervous system, leading to long-term pain and enough discomfort that it negatively impacts your life.

So, what causes motor nerve damage, and how can you keep it under control? This article on motor nerves will guide you through the steps.

What is Motor Nerve Damage?

Motor nerve damage, or neuropathy, is a disorder where the nervous system fails to function correctly.

Put simply, your nerves act as the internal wiring system in your body. They are responsible for transporting information about your physical environment to the brain, like pain and temperature sensations.

If these nerves are damaged, they become over-sensitized and send your mind the wrong message. Often, people with motor nerve damage feel extreme pain in situations where they shouldn’t feel any.

Overly injured nerves can cause paralysis if a nerve is completely cut off from blood flow, but it generally leads to degrees of weakness and restricted feeling.

What Causes Motor Nerve Damage?

There are two kinds of nerves: sensory nerves and motor nerves.

Motor nerves are responsible for aiding movement throughout your body, so severe motor nerve damage can compromise your ability to use your arms and legs. As motor nerves are extremely sensitive, even a small amount of trauma can cause lasting damage. Hitting your elbow, experiencing tingling in your hands, and general weakness or numbness are all signs that something happened to injure the motor portion of your nerves.

Motor nerve damage doesn’t necessarily need to come from a sudden physical injury (though that is the most common cause). Repetitive movements that stress your body like typing can also cause problems. These actions can lead to inflammation, which can cause problems with your ligaments, tendons, and muscles by constricting the pathways that nerves send signals through. Carpal tunnel syndrome (wrist pain) is a classic example.

Plenty of conditions can cause motor nerve damage as well. Diabetes, fractures, tumors, internal hemorrhages, and rheumatoid arthritis can lead to pinched, pained nerves and give you the symptoms of nerve damage.

Symptoms of Motor Nerve Damage

The symptoms of motor nerve damage can vary considerably based on the severity of your condition, but some common symptoms include weakness in the affected limb, muscle atrophy, uncontrollable twitching, burning, numbness, tingling, and even paralysis.

This pain is notoriously difficult to control, and it can lead to painful cramps and bone degeneration, as well as a loss of sleep and emotional distress.

Diagnosing Motor Nerve Damage

Because the symptoms of motor nerve damage are relatively common in a variety of conditions, it can be challenging to diagnose. If you experience any number of the symptoms listed below, it’s essential to make an appointment with your doctor to learn more.

At this appointment, your doctor will likely check your posture, coordination, ability to feel different sensations, and general tendon reflexes. Likewise, you will also be asked questions about your medical history, alcohol use, exposure to toxins, work habits, and more to see what lifestyle factors are contributing to your condition.

Depending on what they find, a blood test, urine analysis, or even nerve biopsy might be ordered. These tests can determine if you have diabetes, liver or kidney dysfunction, or a variety of other metabolic disorders that lead to motor nerve damage.

Treatment Options for Motor Nerve Damage

Once you have been diagnosed with motor nerve damage, your doctor will recommend a treatment plan that is tailored to your symptoms. Neurological issues rarely clear up on their own, so it’s vital that you follow these recommendations carefully if you want to experience relief.

Depending on the cause of your nerve damage, the doctor might prescribe you medication, vitamin supplements, and/or physical therapy to restore functionality. If the problem is diabetes, your treatment plan will focus on keeping your diabetes under control (like keeping your blood sugar levels safe) so that it doesn’t create more significant problems for your life. Vitamin supplements, anti-inflammatory medications, and other treatments can also be prescribed.

If conventional treatment isn’t curing your motor nerve damage, the best option might be a surgical procedure. This is the only way that nerve damage caused by tumors or extreme compression can be treated, and a quick surgery might leave you with long-lasting relief.

Your motor nerve damage isn’t something to be suffered in silence. Meet with your doctor today, and you will be on your way to finding long-term relief fast.